If only one person went home bleeding, that means we did a good job... right?

Tonight was our first youth meeting. Well, we had one last week, but pizza and games don't count as us actually having to run the thing, teaching a lesson and all that jazz. So tonight the pressure was on. I guess the best way to sum it up is to say: at least we got through the announcements without any snags!

After announcements came worship, and there was our first mistake. We had forgotten to get the powerpoints with all the lyrics to the songs. So Daniel (not my Dan, one of the kids in the youth group) played a couple of more familiar songs, but the youth still couldn't sing along very easily. Most of them seemed totally bored and disengaged, and I'm not sure if it was the lack of lyrics to sing along to, or if that's their normal mode. Some of them still seemed into it, and I was grateful for that.

After worship we did a role play of a modernization of the story of the Good Samaritan. That, I thought, went really well. The kids acting and the kids watching seemed to get into it. Maybe a little TOO into it at times. :) Mistake number two happened after the role play. I was the all important "narrator" but had thought Dan was going to lead the discussion questions. But when I tried to turn it over to him, he thought I was going to lead them!!! I felt awful, like we looked bad in front of the teens, but I laughed it off and began leading the discussion. The discussion was a mixed bag. Some of the answers were really silly, but some of them went deeper. Overall, I thought that they grasped what we wanted them to grasp fairly well.

Unfortunately, I was almost done with what we'd prepared for discussion when I noticed mistake number three: Dan had forgotten his Bible. So I caught his eye and mouthed that to him. He got up and went to get his Bible (thank goodness we live in the church,) and I had to keep the discussion going until he got back. When he did, he was very much out of breath, since there are two full flights of stairs between our "house" and the youth room. So I read the story of the Good Samaritan so he could catch his breath.

There weren't any more outright mistakes throughout the night, but some things still didn't go as neatly as planned. The lesson was finished earlier than had planned, leaving us with a full 20 minutes to fill at the end of the night. Now, we had planned to play basketball as a fellowship / gaming time afterwards, but didn't know if it would hold the teens attention for that long. Fortunately the ones that didn't get into basketball began kicking a soccer ball around. It wasn't long until two of the basketball kids collided, and one wiped out spectacularly on the parking lot. She tore up both knees, an elbow, a foot, and even bruised her hip. She was very brave, and didn't even cry, but I feel bad. I know it was an accident, but I still feel somewhat responsible. Like if I had been watching closer... but what was I going to do, jump in and catch her and keep her from falling? I try to tell myself it wasn't my fault, but I still feel guilty, like I could have prevented it.

Well, keep praying for us. Some of the teens are opening up, and a couple told me they think we're alright, so I think we're beginning to make some connections. On the other hand, there are some teens who are very standoffish, and it's difficult to even get them to converse about mundane things. Pray especially for the bonfire. It's going to be very low-key, so I'm hoping we can get the teens to open up and get to know them more.

Love,
Hilary